Installation woes - BSD

This is a discussion on Installation woes - BSD ; I'm trying to install FreeBSD, and I have some questions/problems.
First of all, there are 2 CDs listed in the FTP folder, but when I
install, I don't see any place that I need to use the second CD.
What's ...

Installation woes

I'm trying to install FreeBSD, and I have some questions/problems.
First of all, there are 2 CDs listed in the FTP folder, but when I
install, I don't see any place that I need to use the second CD.
What's this second disc used for?

Secondly, and more problematically, while installing from disc 1, I
consistently run into an error. The message I receive is: "Write
failure on transfer! (wrote -1 bytes of 1425408 bytes)" This seems to
occur while extracting ssys into /usr/src. Any ideas as to how I can
get this to work?

Thirdly, regarding post-installation configuration of my internet: I
have a wireless card (Linksys WMP55AG, based on the Atheros 5212
chipset) that is supported by the ath driver. It is physically
possible for me to relocate my computer so that it's near an ethernet
jack, but I would really rather not. Will ath be available to me as
soon as the OS is installed? Or will I need to either connect to an
ethernet jack or transfer files on a USB drive?

Finally, I have a pretty crummy graphics card that uses the Vesa
driver in X. But my monitor uses a weird resolution (1680x1050),
which, after monkeying around with xorg.conf in Linux, I managed to
get working. I have a copy of that xorg.conf, so once the system is
installed, can I just copy that file into /etc/X11 (or wherever it
belongs)?

Thanks a lot!

Re: Installation woes

> Secondly, and more problematically, while installing from disc 1, I
> consistently run into an error. The message I receive is: "Write
> failure on transfer! (wrote -1 bytes of 1425408 bytes)" This seems to
> occur while extracting ssys into /usr/src. Any ideas as to how I can
> get this to work?

I should note that there's another message that shows when this error
message displays, this one at the bottom of the screen. It says "/mnt/
usr, write failed, filesystem is full" I can then click OK, and when I
do, I get a similar failure message for about 10 - 20 other packages
that are trying to be extracted. I should note that there is
absolutely NO chance that there's not enough space on the disk; I'm
trying to install on a partition that's about 7 GB. I'm doing a custom
install per the instructions found here (http://www.math.colostate.edu/
~reinholz/freebsd/freebsd.html", and when I get to the "Label"
section, I hit "a" to let it choose for me. Could it be under-
allotting space for /usr? Thanks again.

Re: Installation woes

On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:23:12 -0400, Henry Linder (Lancaster) wrote:
>
>> Secondly, and more problematically, while installing from disc 1, I
>> consistently run into an error. The message I receive is: "Write
>> failure on transfer! (wrote -1 bytes of 1425408 bytes)" This seems to
>> occur while extracting ssys into /usr/src. Any ideas as to how I can
>> get this to work?
>
> I should note that there's another message that shows when this error
> message displays, this one at the bottom of the screen. It says "/mnt/
> usr, write failed, filesystem is full" I can then click OK, and when I
> do, I get a similar failure message for about 10 - 20 other packages
> that are trying to be extracted. I should note that there is
> absolutely NO chance that there's not enough space on the disk; I'm
> trying to install on a partition that's about 7 GB. I'm doing a custom
> install per the instructions found here (http://www.math.colostate.edu/
> ~reinholz/freebsd/freebsd.html", and when I get to the "Label"
> section, I hit "a" to let it choose for me. Could it be under-
> allotting space for /usr? Thanks again.
>

I've experienced similar problems and the only thing I could detect was
a problem with the copy of the CD.

You only need CD #1 to install the OS. CD #2 is, as I understand it a
copy of the live OS once it's installed...

To get around the problem I'd do this. Since there seems to be a problem
with the CD don't trust it and do your install via FTP from the freebsd
ftp site. You can boot with the CD and get the installation started but
when it comes time to choose your media, choose to install via FTP. This
way if there is a problem with the CD then you'll by pass it and get the
sources from a reliable source which is the freebsd ftp server. You can
even burn yourself a copy of the bootonly.iso to do this.

As for the space issue, that's a problem that needs more information.
There is nothing in your post which says how big you make your slices are.
Choosing "A" will sometimes leave you wanting for space especially if
you've got a lot of RAM. the "A" option will set your swap slice to
twice the size of your RAM and this may leave you with only a small
amount left for /usr.

Another piece of advice I will offer is don't install Xorg from the CD.
Xorg 6.9 is on the CD and it's not the latest version. This older copy
is casuing quite a bit of problems in the FreeBSD release, not with it's
code, but with the packages that need the newer 7.x version of Xorg.
Instead, just do a "User" or "Minimal" install. Once you've got the OS
going, install and update the ports collection and install Xorg from
there. It will save you a lot of headaches, believe me.

Good luck

Re: Installation woes

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:23:12 -0000, "Henry Linder (Lancaster)" wrote:
>
>> Secondly, and more problematically, while installing from disc 1, I
>> consistently run into an error. The message I receive is: "Write
>> failure on transfer! (wrote -1 bytes of 1425408 bytes)" This seems to
>> occur while extracting ssys into /usr/src. Any ideas as to how I can
>> get this to work?
>
>I should note that there's another message that shows when this error
>message displays, this one at the bottom of the screen. It says "/mnt/
>usr, write failed, filesystem is full" I can then click OK, and when I
>do, I get a similar failure message for about 10 - 20 other packages
>that are trying to be extracted. I should note that there is
>absolutely NO chance that there's not enough space on the disk; I'm
>trying to install on a partition that's about 7 GB.

7 GB may not be enough.
One of my machines is a basic workstation running FBSD 6.2+Xorg 7.2.

Adding it all up, I'm using 15 GB
>I'm doing a custom
>install per the instructions found here (http://www.math.colostate.edu/
>~reinholz/freebsd/freebsd.html", and when I get to the "Label"
>section, I hit "a" to let it choose for me. Could it be under-
>allotting space for /usr? Thanks again.
>

Re: Installation woes

Henry Linder (Lancaster) wrote:
> I should note that there's another message that shows when this error
> message displays, this one at the bottom of the screen. It says "/mnt/
> usr, write failed, filesystem is full" I can then click OK, and when I
> do, I get a similar failure message for about 10 - 20 other packages
> that are trying to be extracted. I should note that there is
> absolutely NO chance that there's not enough space on the disk; I'm
> trying to install on a partition that's about 7 GB. I'm doing a custom
> install per the instructions found here (http://www.math.colostate.edu/
> ~reinholz/freebsd/freebsd.html", and when I get to the "Label"
> section, I hit "a" to let it choose for me. Could it be under-
> allotting space for /usr? Thanks again.
>

Possibly, depending on the packages you're try to install.

I'd try doing a minimal install first; no packages, no ports and no src.
Then you could check how much space is available. You can add packages
after install.

Re: Installation woes

Max Haus wrote:
> Henry Linder (Lancaster) wrote:
>
>> I should note that there's another message that shows when this error
>> message displays, this one at the bottom of the screen. It says "/mnt/
>> usr, write failed, filesystem is full" I can then click OK, and when I
>> do, I get a similar failure message for about 10 - 20 other packages
>> that are trying to be extracted. I should note that there is
>> absolutely NO chance that there's not enough space on the disk; I'm
>> trying to install on a partition that's about 7 GB.

But how big are you making the filesystems? Packages have to be
decompressed when installed, probably in /tmp which can easily run out
of space. Something like OpenOffice is going to need a fair amount of
space to decompress.
>> I'm doing a custom install

Try a standard install first.
>> per the instructions found here
>> (http://www.math.colostate.edu/~reinholz/freebsd/freebsd.html",

Other guides may work, may match the Handbook, or may do weird
non-standard things for no obvious reason. Those instructions have you
do a "Developer" install with full sources, which is going to be tight
with only 7G of disk.
>> and when I get to the "Label" section, I hit "a" to let it choose for
>> me. Could it be under- allotting space for /usr? Thanks again.

or / or /var or /tmp.
> I'd try doing a minimal install first; no packages, no ports and no src.